"Manny Ramirez has proven that he is probably one of the best right-handed hitters of our generation. To have a shot at managing him would be exciting for me. I've had Albert Belle, Frank Thomas, tremendous right-handed hitters. I would love to have the opportunity to watch Manny hit every day."

Rest assured this wasn't Manuel's attempt at posing as GM:

"From my point of view as the manager, I don't get involved with [that]," Manuel said, referring to personnel decisions. "Once that player becomes a Met, I get involved from there."

Including David Wright's endorsement from last week, that now makes two Mets over the past week admittedly on the Manny wagon. Are the Wilpons and GM Omar Minaya sure they don't want Manny?